Miniaturized Mid-IR Light Source for Highly Sensitive, Handheld Gas Sensors

摘要

Using their expertise in silicon optics, Cornell engineers have miniaturized a light source in the elusive mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectrum, effectively squeezing the capabilities of a large, tabletop laser onto a 1-millimeter silicon chip. The breakthrough could lead to highly sensitive, handheld gas sensors for anything from atmospheric research to disaster-recovery missions. This miniaturized mid-IR light source is called a frequency comb, and hails jointly from the labs of Michal Lipson, the Given Foundation Professor of Engineering in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Alexander Gaeta, the Samuel B. Eckert Professor of Engineering in the School of Applied and Engineering Physics. It is described online Feb. 24 in Nature Communications.